To help ease staff shortages within the hospitality industry, the NSW Government will fund 5,000 free Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) courses to support new entrants to the industry.
Free refresher training courses to eligible expired RSA competency holders are also available to help ease staffing pressures in licensed hospitality venues due to COVID. (The free entry applies to workers whose RSA competency card has expired within the past two years, or will expire before 30 June.)
“The hospitality sector makes up over 2 per cent of total gross value added to the NSW economy and supports more than 300,000 jobs, which is why we are committed to supporting this critical industry,” NSW Treasurer, Matt Kean said.
“By providing these free RSA courses we are not just supporting the hospitality sector during the current downturn, but are supporting the future of people who pick up an extra qualification courtesy of NSW Government funding.”
Minister for Hospitality and Racing Kevin Anderson said the funding will help thousands of people to gain the skills to enter an in-demand industry.
“Staff shortages are adversely impacting the hospitality sector which is why we are supporting more people to obtain skills and work to drive our economic recovery,” Mr Anderson said.
The free courses are available now for people who want to work in the industry through Liquor & Gaming NSW (L&GNSW) approved training providers participating in the Smart and Skilled program. A list of the approved training providers will be available on the L&GNSW website soon.
Free RSA refresher courses will be available until 30 June 2022 and are available to people who have competency cards with an expiry date between 1 February – 30 June 2022.
